One Congregation, Many Voices – May 30, 2025 Event at Beth Emet

Dear Chicago-area Beth Emet 20s and 30s Folks,

I hope this note finds you well in these challenging times. Please know that I’m here for you if you need support.

I’d like to invite you to worship, dinner, and conversation at Beth Emet on Friday, May 30. This will be the final event for our annual theme at Beth Emet: One Congregation, Many Voices. The question we’ll be addressing is: how can we talk about the conflict in Israel-Palestine in constructive ways?

Over the past year Beth Emet members have been meeting in small groups to learn how to have productive conversations across lines of difference, and we saved the hardest issue for last! Before the session on May 30th, these groups will have met to discuss the following material: https://bethemet.org/learn/manyvoices/

The topic of Israel-Palestine has been a fraught one for decades in our community and has become even more so since October 7. Summoning the conflict as a discussion point often engenders heated vitriol in the Jewish community and beyond. However, I also believe that how we talk about Israel-Palestine in the Jewish community will determine the health and well-being of our community in the future. Ignoring this conversation is not an option if we want to be a community that lives by our values and cares about the future of the Jewish people. Insisting on uniformity of thought is stultifying and doesn’t ensure the safety and well-being of anyone in the Middle East or here in the US.

I want our community to be a place that grapples with hard issues and works to live our values with integrity. I hope you can join me in this effort.

The details of the evening are still being ironed out, but the basic outline is nosh starting at 5:45 p.m., a short worship service beginning at 6:30 p.m. that will set the tone for the evening, and then dinner and small group facilitated conversations.

Please mark your calendars. I will send more details as soon as they are available.

I hope you had meaningful Passover seders and that you can participate in this event. Please let me know if you have any questions and if you plan on coming.

L’shalom,

Rabbi London